XML sitemaps
A sitemap is a list of the addresses on your site that you want indexed, along with when each last changed. It's how you tell a search engine what exists.
What it is
An XML file, conventionally at /sitemap.xml, listing each canonical address. Larger sites split it into several files behind a sitemap index.
It doesn't guarantee indexing. It makes discovery reliable rather than dependent on a crawler finding every page by following links.
Why it matters
New pages and pages buried several clicks deep are the ones crawlers miss. A sitemap puts them in front of a search engine directly.
Submitting one in Google Search Console also gives you a report of which listed pages were indexed and which were not, and why, which is genuinely useful diagnostic information.
What belongs in it
A sitemap should list every page you want to appear in search, at its final canonical address, and nothing else. On a local business site that usually means the home page, each service and location page, the about and contact pages, and any articles or project pages. Leave out thank-you pages, search results, tag archives with no real content, and anything marked noindex.
A single sitemap file can hold up to 50,000 addresses, which is far more than a small site needs, so one file is normally enough. Google ignores the optional changefreq and priority fields, so there is no benefit in tuning them. An accurate lastmod date for each page is the field that helps, because it tells crawlers which pages are worth fetching again.
Reading the indexing report
Once a sitemap is submitted in Google Search Console, the page indexing report can be filtered to show only the addresses it lists. That turns it into a direct answer to the question that matters: of the pages I want in search, which ones are in, and why are the others not?
Some reasons point to a clear fix. 'Excluded by noindex tag' on a page you want indexed means the tag needs removing, and 'Page with redirect' means the sitemap lists an old address. Others take patience. 'Discovered, currently not indexed' and 'Crawled, currently not indexed' often mean Google doesn't yet see enough value in the page, which points back to the content rather than to the sitemap itself.
Sitemaps on common platforms
Most sites already have a sitemap, even if nobody has looked at it. WordPress has produced one at /wp-sitemap.xml since version 5.5, and SEO plugins usually replace it with their own, often at /sitemap_index.xml. Shopify, Squarespace and Wix all generate one at /sitemap.xml automatically and keep it updated as pages are added.
Because the address varies, the reliable way to point search engines at it is the Sitemap line in robots.txt, plus a submission in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Open the sitemap in a browser once to check it lists the pages you expect, uses https addresses on the right domain, and doesn't include pages from a staging copy of the site.
Plugins and platforms decide for themselves what to include, and sometimes include too much: tag archives, author pages, attachment pages and empty categories all turn up in sitemaps they don't belong in. Most plugins let you exclude types of page with a setting. A shorter sitemap of pages that deserve to rank is more useful to a search engine than a long list padded with clutter.
Check the sitemap again after any significant change to the site, such as a redesign, a move to a new platform or a change of domain. Those are the moments when old addresses, staging pages and duplicates are most likely to appear in it, and the moments when search engines most need an accurate list of what exists. A sitemap that still lists last year's addresses sends crawlers to a trail of redirects and missing pages, and the indexing report in Search Console will show the gap within a few weeks. Comparing the sitemap with the pages the site actually links to is a quick way to spot pages that have been forgotten.
How to fix it
- Generate a sitemap. Every major platform either produces one automatically or has a plugin that does.
- List canonical addresses only. Do not include redirects, missing pages or pages marked noindex.
- Reference it from robots.txt and submit it in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Keep lastmod dates honest. Marking everything as changed today teaches search engines to ignore the field.
- Open the sitemap in a browser after any redesign or platform move and confirm it lists the new addresses, on https, on the right domain.
What good looks like
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<url>
<loc>https://example.com.au/</loc>
<lastmod>2026-08-01</lastmod>
</url>
</urlset>Common mistakes
- Listing pages that redirect or return 404, which wastes crawl budget.
- Letting the sitemap go stale after a redesign changes every address.
- Including noindex pages, which sends two contradictory instructions.
- Leaving staging or development addresses in the sitemap after launch, which invites crawlers to index a copy of the site.
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